Nonprofit directors can discuss a range of topics during board meetings. These topics may range from assessing organizational performance to discussing how the company should advance its strategies in the future. Nonprofits depend on board members who have diverse backgrounds and experience to steer them towards success.
For a successful meeting of the board, it is important that everyone is prepared and have reviewed all relevant documents before hand. The agenda should be created together and shared prior to the meeting so that everyone has time to go through the documents and prepare for discussions. It is important to include enough information for the participants to to participate effectively.
Making clear the criteria for decision-making and communicating them to all of the participants assists the board in directing discussions towards a common goal. This helps avoid tangential discussions that eat the time of meetings and hinder the board from reaching a consensus or a vote on crucial issues. Utilizing technology tools that allow real-time collaboration can make it easier for board members to share and communicate documents, even when they are located in different locations.
Having the right mix of board members will help to stimulate meetings and create more productive discussions. It is important to choose an appropriate mix of optimism and pessimism, youth with age, and experience with fresh ideas. Changes in the location of the meeting or the time of day can also aid in energizing the discussion. This is because it can alter the atmosphere and help participants break out of their routines. Additionally, evaluating the quality of meetings at least once a year is crucial to making improvements. To do this, provide each board member two sticky notes and ask them to assess their overall satisfaction with the meetings on a scale from + (what is good)) to -(what requires improvement).